By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies (34-64) will look to avoid the series sweep against RHP Mike Fiers and the Houston Astros (67-33) Wednesday evening, as red-hot RHP Aaron Nola makes his 16th start of the season.
Nola’s 42 strikeouts since June 26 are the seventh-most in the majors and the fourth-most in the National League, trailing only the Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer (47), and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw (45) and Rich Hill (44). The right-hander’s 1.80 ERA over this same stretch is also third-best in the National League, behind only Kershaw (0.56) and the St. Louis Cardinals’ Lance Lynn (1.72).
The Phillies were shut out 5-0 Tuesday evening, as the Astros improved to 9-0 in interleague play behind right-hander Charlie Morton‘s seven scoreless innings. Morton, who started four games for the Phillies last season, allowed just three hits and a walk, while punching out nine.
While Astros second baseman Jose Altuve and shortstop Marwin Gonzalez extended their hit streaks to 17 and eight games, respectively, while the Phillies’ nine and six-game respective hit streaks by outfielders Nick Williams and Odubel Herrera were brought to an end. The Phillies offense produced just four hits, all doubles by shortstop Freddy Galvis, first baseman Tommy Joseph and catcher Cameron Rupp (2). Herrera’s 11-game streak of reaching base safely also ended.
One streak that was preserved in the defeat, however, was right-hander Luis Garcia‘s consecutive scoreless innings feat. In tossing shutout seventh and eighth innings on just 15 pitches, Garcia now has a career-long 19 1/3 scoreless innings streak, which is also the longest active streak in the majors. Over this stretch, opposing batters are hitting .108 (7-65) with 17 strikeouts against Garcia.
The Phillies have been outscored 18-4 through the first two games of the series.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Houston Astros (67-33) | Philadelphia Phillies (34-64) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Mike Fiers | RHP | Aaron Nola | ||
| (7-4, 3.59 ERA) | (7-6, 3.38 ERA) | ||||
Fiers Career vs. PHI: 0-2, 12.15 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 6 2/3 IP, 12 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 3 HR, 5 BB, 6 SO, 2.550 WHIP
Fiers is winless through two career starts against the Phillies, with the last appearance coming as a Milwaukee Brewer on June 2, 2013 at Citizens Bank Park. Only four Phillies have previously faced the 32-year-old in their careers: Galvis, second baseman Cesar Hernandez, INF/OF Howie Kendrick and outfielder Daniel Nava.
- Galvis: 1-1, 3B, RBI, 1.000/1.000/3.000
- Hernandez: 0-2, SO, .000/.000/.000
- Kendrick: 1-3, .333/.333/.333
- Nava: 0-3, .000/.000/.000
Season Splits, By Month:
- April: 4 GS, 0-1, 5.12 ERA, 19 1/3 IP, 16 SO, 8 BB, .295/.360/.628
- May: 6 GS, 2-1, 4.86 ERA, 33 1/3 IP, 30 SO, 12 BB, .271/.336/.549
- June: 5 GS, 3-1, 2.32 ERA, 31 IP, 28 SO, 9 BB, .189/.274/.243
- July: 4 GS, 2-1, 2.25 ERA, 24 IP, 33 SO, 9 BB, .195/.278/.310
Nola Career vs. HOU: N/A
Through seven career interleague starts, Nola is 2-4 with a 6.69 ERA and 1.657 WHIP. American League battersare hitting .285/.358/.472 against the right-hander with seven doubles, one triple, six home runs, 17 walks and 40 strikeouts spanning 164 plate appearances.
Season Splits, By Month:
- April: 3 GS, 2-0, 4.50 ERA, 16 IP, 15 SO, 6 BB, .317/.377/.413
- May: 3 GS, 0-3, 5.63 ERA, 16 IP, 14 SO, 5 BB, .242/.309/.387
- June: 5 GS, 3-2, 3.24 ERA, 33 1/3 IP, 35 SO, 11 BB, .220/.284/.350
- July: 4 GS, 2-1, 1.61 ERA, 28 IP, 33 SO, 7 BB, .194/.245/.320
Starting Lineups:
| Houston Astros (67-33) | Philadelphia Phillies (34-64) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | 2B | Jose Altuve | R | 1 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 2 | CF | Derek Fisher | L | 2 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 3 | RF | Josh Reddick | L | 3 | RF | Nick Williams | L |
| 4 | 3B | Yuli Gurriel | R | 4 | LF | Howie Kendrick | R |
| 5 | SS | Marwin Gonzalez | S | 5 | CF | Aaron Altherr | R |
| 6 | LF | Carlos Beltran | S | 6 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 7 | C | Brian McCann | L | 7 | 1B | Tommy Joseph | R |
| 8 | 1B | Tyler White | R | 8 | C | Cameron Rupp | R |
| 9 | P | Mike Fiers | R | 9 | P | Aaron Nola | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
- TV: CSN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
On Tuesday, Astros closer Ken Giles made his first appearance against his former team since the December 2015 trade that brought RHP Vince Velasquez and four other players to the city of brotherly love. At the time of the trade, Giles was the all-time leader in career ERA, minimum 100 innings pitched, but has since fallen tied for 99th in the category. Giles is just five appearances with the Astros away from matching his total in two seasons spent with the Phillies, 113 games. Since June 7, the right-hander has allowed two runs through 13 1/3 innings (1.35), and has struck out 14 of his 52 batters faced (26.9 percent).
Ken Giles on facing his former team pic.twitter.com/IhCB5EJ9MT
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) July 26, 2017
- Nola has at least seven strikeouts in six straight starts, the first Phillie starter to accomplish such feat since southpaw Cliff Lee in six starts from July 30 to August 31, 2011.
- A loss on Wednesday would hand the Phillies their ninth series sweep of the season with 63 games more left to be played. The Phillies were swept nine times all of last season.
What’s Next:
- Friday, July 28, 2017: vs. Atlanta Braves, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Julio Teheran (7-8, 4.67 ERA) vs. RHP Jeremy Hellickson (6-5, 4.73 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
